William Edward Forster, British Liberal politician, 1879. Forsters Norfolk Dumpling, not Easy of Digestion. Forster (18181886) is seen sitting down to a meal consisting of an enormous dumpling representing a Conservative Parliamentary majority of 490. Forster was a Quaker and Liberal member of parliament. He helped his father distribute relief to the faminestricken population in Ireland in 1846, and Ireland was always one of his main concerns. He served as UnderSecretary of State for the Colonies and as Vicepresident of the Council, with responsibility for education policy. Although strongly supported to become leader of the Liberal party in 1875, Forster decined the nomination. In 1880 Gladstone appointed him Chief Secretary for Ireland. Cartoon from Punch. (London, 1879).